Search results for: water quality indexes
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 5072

Search results for: water quality indexes

4652 Comparison of S-transform and Wavelet Transform in Power Quality Analysis

Authors: Mohammad Javad Dehghani

Abstract:

In the power quality analysis non-stationary nature of voltage distortions require some precise and powerful analytical techniques. The time-frequency representation (TFR) provides a powerful method for identification of the non-stationary of the signals. This paper investigates a comparative study on two techniques for analysis and visualization of voltage distortions with time-varying amplitudes. The techniques include the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), and the S-Transform. Several power quality problems are analyzed using both the discrete wavelet transform and S–transform, showing clearly the advantage of the S– transform in detecting, localizing, and classifying the power quality problems.

Keywords: Power quality, S-Transform, Short Time FourierTransform , Wavelet Transform, instantaneous sag, swell.

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4651 Modelling of Groundwater Resources for Al-Najaf City, Iraq

Authors: Hayder H. Kareem, Shunqi Pan

Abstract:

Groundwater is a vital water resource in many areas in the world, particularly in the Middle-East region where the water resources become scarce and depleting. Sustainable management and planning of the groundwater resources become essential and urgent given the impact of the global climate change. In the recent years, numerical models have been widely used to predict the flow pattern and assess the water resources security, as well as the groundwater quality affected by the contaminants transported. In this study, MODFLOW is used to study the current status of groundwater resources and the risk of water resource security in the region centred at Al-Najaf City, which is located in the mid-west of Iraq and adjacent to the Euphrates River. In this study, a conceptual model is built using the geologic and hydrogeologic collected for the region, together with the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data obtained from the "Global Land Cover Facility" (GLCF) and "United State Geological Survey" (USGS) for the study area. The computer model is also implemented with the distributions of 69 wells in the area with the steady pro-defined hydraulic head along its boundaries. The model is then applied with the recharge rate (from precipitation) of 7.55 mm/year, given from the analysis of the field data in the study area for the period of 1980-2014. The hydraulic conductivity from the measurements at the locations of wells is interpolated for model use. The model is calibrated with the measured hydraulic heads at the locations of 50 of 69 wells in the domain and results show a good agreement. The standard-error-of-estimate (SEE), root-mean-square errors (RMSE), Normalized RMSE and correlation coefficient are 0.297 m, 2.087 m, 6.899% and 0.971 respectively. Sensitivity analysis is also carried out, and it is found that the model is sensitive to recharge, particularly when the rate is greater than (15mm/year). Hydraulic conductivity is found to be another parameter which can affect the results significantly, therefore it requires high quality field data. The results show that there is a general flow pattern from the west to east of the study area, which agrees well with the observations and the gradient of the ground surface. It is found that with the current operational pumping rates of the wells in the area, a dry area is resulted in Al-Najaf City due to the large quantity of groundwater withdrawn. The computed water balance with the current operational pumping quantity shows that the Euphrates River supplies water into the groundwater of approximately 11759 m3/day, instead of gaining water of 11178 m3/day from the groundwater if no pumping from the wells. It is expected that the results obtained from the study can provide important information for the sustainable and effective planning and management of the regional groundwater resources for Al-Najaf City.

Keywords: Al-Najaf city, conceptual modelling, groundwater, unconfined aquifer, visual MODFLOW.

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4650 Bacteriological Screening and Antibiotic – Heavy Metal Resistance Profile of the Bacteria Isolated from Some Amphibian and Reptile Species of the Biga Stream in Turkey

Authors: Nurcihan Hacioglu, Cigdem Gul, Murat Tosunoglu

Abstract:

In this article, the antibiogram and heavy metal resistance profile of the bacteria isolated from total 34 studied animals (Pelophylax ridibundus = 12; Mauremys rivulata = 14; Natrix natrix = 8) captured around the Biga Stream, are described. There was no database information on antibiogram and heavy metal resistance profile of bacteria from these area’s amphibians and reptiles. A total of 200 bacteria were successfully isolated from cloaca and oral samples of the aquatic amphibians and reptiles as well as from the water sample. According to Jaccard’s similarity index, the degree of similarity in the bacterial flora was quite high among the amphibian and reptile species under examination, whereas it was different from the bacterial diversity in the water sample. The most frequent isolates were A. hydrophila (31.5%), B. pseudomallei (8.5%), and C. freundii (7%). The total numbers of bacteria obtained were as follows: 45 in P. ridibundus, 45 in N. natrix 30 in M. rivulata, and 80 in the water sample. The result showed that cefmetazole was the most effective antibiotic to control the bacteria isolated in this study and that approximately 93.33% of the bacterial isolates were sensitive to this antibiotic. The multiple antibiotic resistances (MAR) index indicated that P. ridibundus (0.95) > N. natrix (0.89) > M. rivulata (0.39). Furthermore, all the tested heavy metals (Pb+2, Cu+2, Cr+3, and Mn+2) inhibit the growth of the bacterial isolates at different rates. Therefore, it indicated that the water source of the animals was contaminated with both antibiotic residues and heavy metals.

Keywords: Amphibian, Bacteriological Quality, Reptile, Antibiotic & Heavy Metal Resistance.

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4649 Managing City Pipe Leaks through Community Participation Using a Web and Mobile Application in South Africa

Authors: Mpai Mokoena, Nsenda Lukumwena

Abstract:

South Africa is one of the driest countries in the world and is facing a water crisis. In addition to inadequate infrastructure and poor planning, the country is experiencing high rates of water wastage due to pipe leaks. This study outlines the level of water wastage and develops a smart solution to efficiently manage and reduce the effects of pipe leaks, while monitoring the situation before and after fixing the pipe leaks. To understand the issue in depth, a literature review of journal papers and government reports was conducted. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to the general public. Additionally, the municipality office was contacted from a managerial perspective. The analysis from the study indicated that the majority of the citizens are aware of the water crisis and are willing to participate positively to decrease the level of water wasted. Furthermore, the response from the municipality acknowledged that more practical solutions are needed to reduce water wastage, and resources to attend to pipe leaks swiftly. Therefore, this paper proposes a specific solution for municipalities, local plumbers and citizens to minimize the effects of pipe leaks. The solution provides web and mobile application platforms to report and manage leaks swiftly. The solution is beneficial to the country in achieving water security and would promote a culture of responsibility toward water usage.

Keywords: Urban Distribution Networks, leak management, mobile application, responsible citizens, water crisis, water security.

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4648 Exergy Analysis of a Solar Humidification- Dehumidification Desalination Unit

Authors: Mohammed A. Elhaj, Jamal S. Yassin

Abstract:

This paper presents the exergy analysis of a desalination unit using humidification-dehumidification process. Here, this unit is considered as a thermal system with three main components, which are the heating unit by using a solar collector, the evaporator or the humidifier, and the condenser or the dehumidifier. In these components the exergy is a measure of the quality or grade of energy and it can be destroyed in them. According to the second law of thermodynamics this destroyed part is due to irreversibilities which must be determined to obtain the exergetic efficiency of the system. In the current paper a computer program has been developed using visual basic to determine the exergy destruction and the exergetic efficiencies of the components of the desalination unit at variable operation conditions such as feed water temperature, outlet air temperature, air to feed water mass ratio and salinity, in addition to cooling water mass flow rate and inlet temperature, as well as quantity of solar irradiance. The results obtained indicate that the exergy efficiency of the humidifier increases by increasing the mass ratio and decreasing the outlet air temperature. In the other hand the exergy efficiency of the condenser increases with the increase of this ratio and also with the increase of the outlet air temperature.

Keywords: Exergy analysis, desalination, solar, humidifier, condenser.

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4647 Comparing the Quality of Service of Bus Companies Operating in two Cities in Brazil

Authors: D. I. De Souza, D. Kipper, G. P. Azevedo

Abstract:

The main objective of this work is to compare the quality of service of the bus companies operating in the city of Rio Branco, located in the state of Acre with the quality of service of the bus companies operating in the city of Campos, situated in the state of Rio de Janeiro, both cities in Brazil. This comparison, based on the opinion of the bus users, will determine their degree of satisfaction with the service available in both cities. The outcome of this evaluation shows the users unhappy with the quality of the service provided by the bus companies operating in both cities and the need to identify alternative solutions that may minimize the consequences caused by the main problems detected in this work. With these alternatives available, the bus companies will be able to better understand the needs of their customers in terms of manpower, service cost, time schedule, etc.

Keywords: PubicTransportation, Quality of Service, Riders' Opinion, Bus Companies

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4646 Quality-Driven Business Process Refactoring

Authors: María Fernández-Ropero, Ricardo Pérez-Castillo, Ismael Caballero, Mario Piattini

Abstract:

Appropriate description of business processes through standard notations has become one of the most important assets for organizations. Organizations must therefore deal with quality faults in business process models such as the lack of understandability and modifiability. These quality faults may be exacerbated if business process models are mined by reverse engineering, e.g., from existing information systems that support those business processes. Hence, business process refactoring is often used, which change the internal structure of business processes whilst its external behavior is preserved. This paper aims to choose the most appropriate set of refactoring operators through the quality assessment concerning understandability and modifiability. These quality features are assessed through well-proven measures proposed in the literature. Additionally, a set of measure thresholds are heuristically established for applying the most promising refactoring operators, i.e., those that achieve the highest quality improvement according to the selected measures in each case.

Keywords: business process model, modifiability, refactoring, understandability

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4645 Online Programme of Excellence Model (OPEM)

Authors: Luis M. Villar, Olga M. Alegre

Abstract:

Finding effective ways of improving university quality assurance requires, as well, a retraining of the staff. This article illustrates an Online Programme of Excellence Model (OPEM), based on the European quality assurance model, for improving participants- formative programme standards. The results of applying this OPEM indicate the necessity of quality policies that support the evaluators- competencies to improve formative programmes. The study concludes by outlining how faculty and agency staff can use OPEM for the internal and external quality assurance of formative programmes.

Keywords: Formative assessment, Online faculty excellence program, Teaching competencies, University quality assurance.

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4644 Constructing of Classifier for Face Recognition on the Basis of the Conjugation Indexes

Authors: Vladimir A. Fursov, Nikita E. Kozin

Abstract:

In this work the opportunity of construction of the qualifiers for face-recognition systems based on conjugation criteria is investigated. The linkage between the bipartite conjugation, the conjugation with a subspace and the conjugation with the null-space is shown. The unified solving rule is investigated. It makes the decision on the rating of face to a class considering the linkage between conjugation values. The described recognition method can be successfully applied to the distributed systems of video control and video observation.

Keywords: Conjugation, Eigenfaces, Recognition.

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4643 Carcass Characteristics and Qualities of Philippine White Mallard (Anas boschas L.) and Pekin (Anas platyrhynchos L.) Duck

Authors: Jerico M. Consolacion, Maria Cynthia R. Oliveros

Abstract:

The Philippine White Mallard duck was compared with Pekin duck for potential meat production. A total of 50 ducklings were randomly assigned to five (5) pens per treatment after one month of brooding. Each pen containing five (5) ducks was considered as a replicate. The ducks were raised until 12 weeks of age and slaughtered at the end of the growing period. Meat from both breeds was analyzed. The data were subjected to the Independent-Sample T-test at 5% level of confidence. Results showed that post-mortem pH (0, 20 minutes, 50 minutes, 1 hour and 20 minutes, 1 hour and 50 minutes, and 24 hours ) did not differ significantly (P>0.05) between breeds. However, Pekin ducks (89.84±0.71) had a significantly higher water-holding capacity than Philippine White Mallard ducks (87.93±0.63) (P<0.05). Also, meat color (CIE L, a, b) revealed that no significant differences among the lightness, redness, and yellowness of the skin (breast) in both breeds (P>0.05) except for the yellowness of the lean muscles of the Pekin duck breast. Pekin duck meat (1.15±0.04) had significantly higher crude fat content than Philippine White Mallard (0.47±0.58). The study clearly showed that breed is a factor and provided some pronounced effects among the parameters. However, these results are considered as preliminary information on the meat quality of Philippine White Mallard duck. Hence, further studies are needed to understand and fully utilize it for meat production and develop different meat products from this breed.

Keywords: Crude fat, meat quality, water-holding capacity.

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4642 Leveraging Quality Metrics in Voting Model Based Thread Retrieval

Authors: Atefeh Heydari, Mohammadali Tavakoli, Zuriati Ismail, Naomie Salim

Abstract:

Seeking and sharing knowledge on online forums have made them popular in recent years. Although online forums are valuable sources of information, due to variety of sources of messages, retrieving reliable threads with high quality content is an issue. Majority of the existing information retrieval systems ignore the quality of retrieved documents, particularly, in the field of thread retrieval. In this research, we present an approach that employs various quality features in order to investigate the quality of retrieved threads. Different aspects of content quality, including completeness, comprehensiveness, and politeness, are assessed using these features, which lead to finding not only textual, but also conceptual relevant threads for a user query within a forum. To analyse the influence of the features, we used an adopted version of voting model thread search as a retrieval system. We equipped it with each feature solely and also various combinations of features in turn during multiple runs. The results show that incorporating the quality features enhances the effectiveness of the utilised retrieval system significantly.

Keywords: Content quality, Forum search, Thread retrieval, Voting techniques.

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4641 The Relationship between Human Values and Service Quality with the Mediating Role of Motivation: A Quantitative Study on Malaysian Commercial Banks

Authors: Kuppusamy Singaravelloo, Zahra Kamiab

Abstract:

This study explores the mediating effects of motivation in the relationship between human values and service quality. To examine the fundamental relationships among human values, motivation, and service quality, a Structural Equation Model (SEM) with a full mediation model was adopted. The model was designed and subsequently analyzed by utilizing the Partial Least Squares (PLS) procedure on data collected from a survey that yielded 936 usable questionnaires. The survey was sent to all 117 branches of two local commercial banks (CIMB and Maybank) operating in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both banks ranked the highest in terms of asset size and market capitalization. The mediating role of motivation was examined in the relationship between four dimensions of human values and bank service quality, whereby human values initiate service quality. The results support the notion that employee motivation fully mediates the relationship between self-enhancement values and service quality in commercial banks. These results demonstrate the unpredictable role of the interaction structures of human values on bank service quality.

Keywords: Human values, service quality, mediation, motivation, commercial bank.

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4640 Secondary Effects on Water Vapor Transport Properties Measured by Cup Method

Authors: Z. Pavlík, J. Fořt, J. Žumár, M. Pavlíková, R. Černý

Abstract:

The cup method is applied for the measurement of water vapor transport properties of porous materials worldwide. However, in practical applications the experimental results are often used without taking into account some secondary effects which can play an important role under specific conditions. In this paper, the effect of temperature on water vapor transport properties of cellular concrete is studied, together with the influence of sample thickness. At first, the bulk density, matrix density, total open porosity and sorption and desorption isotherms are measured for material characterization purposes. Then, the steady state cup method is used for determination of water vapor transport properties, whereas the measurements are performed at several temperatures and for three different sample thicknesses.

Keywords: Water vapor transport, cellular concrete, cup method, temperature, sample thickness.

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4639 Sweet Corn Water Productivity under Several Deficit Irrigation Regimes Applied during Vegetative Growth Stage using Treated Wastewater as Water Irrigation Source

Authors: Hirich A., Rami A., Laajaj K., Choukr-Allah R., Jacobsen S-E., El youssfi L., El Omari H.

Abstract:

Yield and Crop Water Productivity are crucial issues in sustainable agriculture, especially in high-demand resource crops such as sweet corn. This study was conducted to investigate agronomic responses such as plant growth, yield and soil parameters (EC and Nitrate accumulation) to several deficit irrigation treatments (100, 75, 50, 25 and 0% of ETm) applied during vegetative growth stage, rainfed treatment was also tested. The finding of this research indicates that under deficit irrigation during vegetative growth stage applying 75% of ETm lead to increasing of 19.4% in terms of fresh ear yield, 9.4% in terms of dry grain yield, 10.5% in terms of number of ears per plant, 11.5% for the 1000 grains weight and 19% in terms of crop water productivity compared with fully irrigated treatment. While those parameters in addition to root, shoot and plant height has been affected by deficit irrigation during vegetative growth stage when increasing water stress degree more than 50% of ETm.

Keywords: Leaf area, yield, crop water productivity, water saving

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4638 Determining the Online Purchasing Loyalty for Thai Herbal Products

Authors: Chummanond Natchaya, Rotchanakitumnuai Siriluck

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to identify the factors that influence the online purchasing loyalty for Thai herbal products. Survey research is used to gather data from Thai herb online merchants to assess factors that have impacts on enhancing loyalty. Data were collected from 300 online customers who had experience in online purchasing of Thai Herbal products. Prior experience consists of data from previous usage of online herbs, herb purchase and internet usage. E-Quality data consists of information quality, system quality, service quality and the product quality of Thai herbal products sold online. The results suggest that prior experience, Equality, attitude toward purchase and trust in online merchant have major impacts on loyalty. The good attitude and E-Quality of purchasing Thai herbal product online are the most significant determinants affecting loyalty.

Keywords: e-Commerce, Thai herb, E-Quality, satisfaction, loyalty.

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4637 Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources of Greater Zab and Lesser Zab Basins, Iraq, Using Soil and Water Assessment Tool Model

Authors: Nahlah Abbas, Saleh A. Wasimi, Nadhir Al-Ansari

Abstract:

The Greater Zab and Lesser Zab are the major tributaries of Tigris River contributing the largest flow volumes into the river. The impacts of climate change on water resources in these basins have not been well addressed. To gain a better understanding of the effects of climate change on water resources of the study area in near future (2049-2069) as well as in distant future (2080-2099), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied. The model was first calibrated for the period from 1979 to 2004 to test its suitability in describing the hydrological processes in the basins. The SWAT model showed a good performance in simulating streamflow. The calibrated model was then used to evaluate the impacts of climate change on water resources. Six general circulation models (GCMs) from phase five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) under three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 for periods of 2049-2069 and 2080-2099 were used to project the climate change impacts on these basins. The results demonstrated a significant decline in water resources availability in the future.

Keywords: Tigris River, climate change, water resources, SWAT.

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4636 Solubility of Water in CO2 Mixtures at Pipeline Operation Conditions

Authors: Mohammad Ahmad, Sander Gersen, Erwin Wilbers

Abstract:

Carbon capture, transport and underground storage have become a major solution to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants and other large CO2 sources. A big part of this captured CO2 stream is transported at high pressure dense phase conditions and stored in offshore underground depleted oil and gas fields. CO2 is also transported in offshore pipelines to be used for enhanced oil and gas recovery. The captured CO2 stream with impurities may contain water that causes severe corrosion problems, flow assurance failure and might damage valves and instrumentations. Thus, free water formation should be strictly prevented. The purpose of this work is to study the solubility of water in pure CO2 and in CO2 mixtures under real pipeline pressure (90-150 bar) and temperature operation conditions (5-35°C). A set up was constructed to generate experimental data. The results show the solubility of water in CO2 mixtures increasing with the increase of the temperature or/and with the increase in pressure. A drop in water solubility in CO2 is observed in the presence of impurities. The data generated were then used to assess the capabilities of two mixture models: the GERG-2008 model and the EOS-CG model. By generating the solubility data, this study contributes to determine the maximum allowable water content in CO2 pipelines.

Keywords: Carbon capture and storage, water solubility, equation of states.

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4635 No-Reference Image Quality Assessment using Blur and Noise

Authors: Min Goo Choi, Jung Hoon Jung, Jae Wook Jeon

Abstract:

Assessment for image quality traditionally needs its original image as a reference. The conventional method for assessment like Mean Square Error (MSE) or Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) is invalid when there is no reference. In this paper, we present a new No-Reference (NR) assessment of image quality using blur and noise. The recent camera applications provide high quality images by help of digital Image Signal Processor (ISP). Since the images taken by the high performance of digital camera have few blocking and ringing artifacts, we only focus on the blur and noise for predicting the objective image quality. The experimental results show that the proposed assessment method gives high correlation with subjective Difference Mean Opinion Score (DMOS). Furthermore, the proposed method provides very low computational load in spatial domain and similar extraction of characteristics to human perceptional assessment.

Keywords: No Reference, Image Quality Assessment, blur, noise.

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4634 Deterioration Assessment Models for Water Pipelines

Authors: L. Parvizsedghy, I. Gkountis, A. Senouci, T. Zayed, M. Alsharqawi, H. El Chanati, M. El-Abbasy, F. Mosleh

Abstract:

The aging and deterioration of water pipelines in cities worldwide result in more frequent water main breaks, water service disruptions, and flooding damage. Therefore, there is an urgent need for undertaking proper maintenance procedures to avoid breaks and disastrous failures. However, due to budget limitations, the maintenance of water pipeline networks needs to be prioritized through efficient deterioration assessment models. Previous studies focused on the development of structural or physical deterioration assessment models, which require expensive inspection data. But, this paper aims at developing deterioration assessment models for water pipelines using statistical techniques. Several deterioration models were developed based on pipeline size, material type, and soil type using linear regression analysis. The categorical nature of some variables affecting pipeline deterioration was considered through developing several categorical models. The developed models were validated with an average validity percentage greater than 95%. Moreover, sensitivity analysis was carried out against different classifications and it displayed higher importance of age of pipes compared to other factors. The developed models will be helpful for the water municipalities and asset managers to assess the condition of their pipes and prioritize them for maintenance and inspection purposes.

Keywords: Water pipelines, deterioration assessment models, regression analysis.

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4633 Multi-Objective Planning and Operation of Water Supply Systems Subject to Climate Change

Authors: B. J. C. Perera, D. A. Sachindra, W. Godoy., A.F. Barton, F. Huang

Abstract:

Many water supply systems in Australia are currently undergoing significant reconfiguration due to reductions in long term average rainfall and resulting low inflows to water supply reservoirs since the second half of the 20th century. When water supply systems undergo change, it is necessary to develop new operating rules, which should consider climate, because the climate change is likely to further reduce inflows. In addition, water resource systems are increasingly intended to be operated to meet complex and multiple objectives representing social, economic, environmental and sustainability criteria. This is further complicated by conflicting preferences on these objectives from diverse stakeholders. This paper describes a methodology to develop optimum operating rules for complex multi-reservoir systems undergoing significant change, considering all of the above issues. The methodology is demonstrated using the Grampians water supply system in northwest Victoria, Australia. Initial work conducted on the project is also presented in this paper.

Keywords: Climate change, Multi-objective planning, Pareto optimal; Stakeholder preference, Statistical downscaling, Water supply systems.

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4632 The Gasification of Acetone via Partial Oxidation in Supercritical Water

Authors: Shyh-Ming Chern, Kai-Ting Hsieh

Abstract:

Organic solvents find various applications in many industrial sectors and laboratories as dilution solvents, dispersion solvents, cleaners and even lubricants. Millions of tons of spent organic solvents (SOS) are generated each year worldwide, prompting the need for more efficient, cleaner and safer methods for the treatment and resource recovery of SOS. As a result, acetone, selected as a model compound for SOS, was gasified in supercritical water to assess the feasibility of resource recovery of SOS by means of supercritical water processes. Experiments were conducted with an autoclave reactor. Gaseous product is mainly consists of H2, CO, CO2 and CH4. The effects of three major operating parameters, the reaction temperature, from 673 to 773K, the dosage of oxidizing agent, from 0.3 to 0.5 stoichiometric oxygen, and the concentration of acetone in the feed, 0.1 and 0.2M, on the product gas composition, yield and heating value were evaluated with the water density fixed at about 0.188g/ml.

Keywords: Acetone, gasification, SCW, supercritical water.

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4631 A High Quality Factor Filter Based on Quasi-Periodic Photonic Structure

Authors: Hamed Alipour-Banaei, Farhad Mehdizadeh

Abstract:

We report the design and characterization of ultra high quality factor filter based on one-dimensional photonic-crystal Thue- Morse sequence structure. The behavior of aperiodic array of photonic crystal structure is numerically investigated and we show that by changing the angle of incident wave, desired wavelengths could be tuned and a tunable filter is realized. Also it is shown that high quality factor filter be achieved in the telecommunication window around 1550 nm, with a device based on Thue-Morse structure. Simulation results show that the proposed structure has a quality factor more than 100000 and it is suitable for DWDM communication applications.

Keywords: Thue-Morse, filter, quality factor.

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4630 Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium for the Binary Mixtures of α-Pinene + Water and α-Terpineol + Water

Authors: Herti Utami, Sutijan, Roto, Wahyudi Budi Sediawan

Abstract:

α-Pinene is the main component of the most turpentine oils. The hydration of α-pinene with acid catalysts leads to a complex mixture of monoterpenes. In order to obtain more valuable products, the α-pinene in the turpentine can be hydrated in dilute mineral acid solutions to produce α-terpineol. The design of separation processes requires information on phase equilibrium and related thermodynamic properties. This paper reports the results of study on liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) of system containing α- pinene + water and α-terpineol + water. Binary LLE for α-pinene + water system, and α-terpineol + water systems were determined by experiment at 301K and atmospheric pressure. The two component mixture was stirred for about 30min, then the mixture was left for about 2h for complete phase separation. The composition of both phases was analyzed by using a Gas Chromatograph. The experimental data were correlated by considering both NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models. The LLE data for the system of α-pinene + water and α-terpineol + water were correlated successfully by the NRTL model. The experimental data were not satisfactorily fitted by the UNIQUAC model. The NRTL model (α =0.3) correlates the LLE data for the system of α-pinene + water at 301K with RMSD of 0.0404%. And the NRTL model (α =0.61) at 301K with RMSD of 0.0058 %. The NRTL model (α =0.3) correlates the LLE data for the system of α- terpineol + water at 301K with RMSD of 0.1487% and the NRTL model (α =0.6) at 301K with RMSD of 0.0032%, between the experimental and calculated mole fractions.

Keywords: α-Pinene, α-Terpineol, Liquid-liquid Equilibrium, NRTL model, UNIQUAC model

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4629 Water Demand Prediction for Touristic Mecca City in Saudi Arabia using Neural Networks

Authors: Abdel Hamid Ajbar, Emad Ali

Abstract:

Saudi Arabia is an arid country which depends on costly desalination plants to satisfy the growing residential water demand. Prediction of water demand is usually a challenging task because the forecast model should consider variations in economic progress, climate conditions and population growth. The task is further complicated knowing that Mecca city is visited regularly by large numbers during specific months in the year due to religious occasions. In this paper, a neural networks model is proposed to handle the prediction of the monthly and yearly water demand for Mecca city, Saudi Arabia. The proposed model will be developed based on historic records of water production and estimated visitors- distribution. The driving variables for the model include annuallyvarying variables such as household income, household density, and city population, and monthly-varying variables such as expected number of visitors each month and maximum monthly temperature.

Keywords: Water demand forecast; Neural Networks model; water resources management; Saudi Arabia.

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4628 Affect of Viscosity and Droplet Diameter on water-in-oil (w/o) Emulsions: An Experimental Study

Authors: A.N. Ilia Anisa, Abdurahman H.Nour

Abstract:

The influence of viscosity on droplet diameter for water-in-crude oil (w/o) emulsion with two different ratios; 20-80 % and 50-50 % w/o emulsion was examined in the Brookfield Rotational Digital Rheometer. The emulsion was prepared with sorbitan sesquiolate (Span 83) act as emulsifier at varied temperature and stirring speed in rotation per minute (rpm). Results showed that the viscosity of w/o emulsion was strongly augmented by increasing volume of water and decreased the temperature. The changing of viscosity also altered the droplet size distribution. Changing of droplet diameter was depends on the viscosity and the behavior of emulsion either Newtonian or non-Newtonian.

Keywords: Diameter, phase ratio, viscosity, water-in-crude oil(w/o).

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4627 Effect of Strength Class of Concrete and Curing Conditions on Capillary Water Absorption of Self-Compacting and Conventional Concrete

Authors: Emine Ebru Demirci, Remzi Sahin

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to compare Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) and Conventional Concrete (CC) in terms of their capillary water absorption. During the comparison of SCC and CC, the effects of two different factors were also investigated: concrete strength class and curing condition. In the study, both SCC and CC were produced in three different concrete classes (C25, C50 and C70) and the other parameter (i.e. curing condition) was determined as two levels: moisture and air curing. It was observed that, for both curing environments and all strength classes of concrete, SCCs had lower capillary water absorption values than that of CCs. It was also detected that, for both SCC and CC, capillary water absorption values of samples kept in moisture curing were significantly lower than that of samples stored in air curing. Additionally, it was determined that capillary water absorption values for both SCC and CC decrease with increasing strength class of concrete for both curing environments.

Keywords: Capillary water absorption, curing condition, reinforced concrete beam, self-compacting concrete.

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4626 Negative Pressures of Ca. -20 MPA for Water Enclosed into a Metal Berthelot Tube under a Vacuum Condition

Authors: K. Hiro, Y. Imai, M. Tanji, H. Deguchi, K. Hatari

Abstract:

Negative pressures of liquids have been expected to contribute many kinds of technology. Nevertheless, experiments for subjecting liquids which have not too small volumes to negative pressures are difficult even now. The reason of the difficulties is because the liquids tend to generate cavities easily. In order to remove cavitation nuclei, an apparatus for enclosing water into a metal Berthelot tube under vacuum conditions was developed. By using the apparatus, negative pressures for water rose to ca. -20 MPa. This is the highest value for water in metal Berthelot tubes. Results were explained by a traditional crevice model. Keywords

Keywords: Berthelot method, negative pressure, cavitation

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4625 Research on the Teaching Quality Evaluation of China’s Network Music Education APP

Authors: Guangzhuang Yu, Chun-Chu Liu

Abstract:

With the advent of the Internet era in recent years, social music education has gradually shifted from the original entity education mode to the mode of entity plus network teaching. No matter for school music education, professional music education or social music education, the teaching quality is the most important evaluation index. Regarding the research on teaching quality evaluation, scholars at home and abroad have contributed a lot of research results on the basis of multiple methods and evaluation subjects. However, to our best knowledge the complete evaluation model for the virtual teaching interaction mode of the emerging network music education Application (APP) has not been established. This research firstly found out the basic dimensions that accord with the teaching quality required by the three parties, constructing the quality evaluation index system; and then, on the basis of expounding the connotation of each index, it determined the weight of each index by using method of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, providing ideas and methods for scientific, objective and comprehensive evaluation of the teaching quality of network education APP.

Keywords: Network music education APP, teaching quality evaluation, index, connotation.

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4624 Investigation of Water Transport Dynamics in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells Based on a Gas Diffusion Media Layers

Authors: Saad S. Alrwashdeh, Henning Markötter, Handri Ammari, Jan Haußmann, Tobias Arlt, Joachim Scholta, Ingo Manke

Abstract:

In this investigation, synchrotron X-ray imaging is used to study water transport inside polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Two measurement techniques are used, namely in-situ radiography and quasi-in-situ tomography combining together in order to reveal the relationship between the structures of the microporous layers (MPLs) and the gas diffusion layers (GDLs), the operation temperature and the water flow. The developed cell is equipped with a thick GDL and a high back pressure MPL. It is found that these modifications strongly influence the overall water transport in the whole adjacent GDM.

Keywords: Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, microporous layer, water transport, radiography, tomography.

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4623 Defect Management Life Cycle Process for Software Quality Improvement

Authors: Aedah A. Rahman, Nurdatillah Hasim

Abstract:

Software quality issues require special attention especially in view of the demands of quality software product to meet customer satisfaction. Software development projects in most organisations need proper defect management process in order to produce high quality software product and reduce the number of defects. The research question of this study is how to produce high quality software and reducing the number of defects. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to provide a framework for managing software defects by following defined life cycle processes. The methodology starts by reviewing defects, defect models, best practices, and standards. A framework for defect management life cycle is proposed. The major contribution of this study is to define a defect management roadmap in software development. The adoption of an effective defect management process helps to achieve the ultimate goal of producing high quality software products and contributes towards continuous software process improvement.

Keywords: Defects, defect management, life cycle process, software quality.

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